Zimbabwe have stepped up preparations for the 2016 ICC Africa Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament, to be staged in Harare from 23 to 27 April 2016, with the local ladies undergoing physical conditioning, net sessions and other drills this week.

The national women’s squad has been training under the watchful eyes of head coach Trevor Phiri and his assistants Leonard Nhamburo and Mufaro Chiturumani.

Today, the ladies took on the national Under-16 boys in a practice match played at the Country Club, one of the two venues for the tournament.

The other venue is Alex Sports Club.

Zimbabwe women’s cricket coordinator Caroline Nyamande said Zimbabwe Cricket was confident of not only hosting a successful tournament but also winning it in style.

“We are confident of putting together an impressive event and I am also positive we will make the nation proud on the field of play too,” she said.

“The girls have been working hard and they are raring to go. But we are going to take every match seriously because lightweights only exist on paper.”

The participants in the four-team qualifier showdown will be Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The tournament will be contested on a round-robin basis.

The team that finishes with the most points will win the regional event and proceed to the global qualification tournament for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 in the West Indies.